Molecular properties of succinate dehydrogenase isolated from Micrococcus luteus (lysodeikticus)

Succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1) of Micrococcus luteus was selectively precipitated from Triton X-100-solubilized membranes by using specific antiserum. The precipitated enzyme contained equimolar amounts of four polypeptides with apparent molecular weights of 72,000, 30,000, 17,000, and 15,000. The 72,000 polypeptide possessed a covalently bound flavin prosthetic group and appeared to be strongly antigenic as judged by immunoprinting experiments. Low-temperature absorption spectroscopy revealed the presence of cytochrome b556 in the antigen complex. By analogy with succinate dehydrogenase purified from other sources, the 72,000 and 30,000 polypeptides were considered to represent subunits of the succinate dehydrogenase enzyme, whereas one (or both) of the low-molecular-weight polypeptides was attributed to the apoprotein of the b-type cytochrome. A succinate dehydrogenase antigen cross-reacting with the M. luteus enzyme complex could be demonstrated in membranes of Micrococcus roseus, Micrococcus flavus, and Sarcina lutea, but not in the membranes isolated from a wide variety of other gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.     

Characterization of a succinate dehydrogenase complex solubilized from the cytoplasmic membrane of Bacillus subtilis with the nonionic detergent Triton X-100.

A succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) complex has been purified from Triton X-100-solubilized membranes from Bacillus subtilis by precipitation with specific antibody. Radioactively labeled precipitated complex was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by autoradiography of the gels. The complex contained equimolar amounts of three polypeptides with approximate molecular weights of 65,000, 28,000, and 19,000. Five succinic dehydrogenase-negative mutants, belonging to the citF group, contained the 65,000-dalton polypeptide in a soluble form in the cytoplasm. Each 65,000-dalton polypeptide had about one molecule of flavin bound. Another citF mutant, citF11, which lacks the 65,000-dalton polypeptide, contained a membrane-bound 28,000-dalton polypeptide. The wild-type succinic dehydrogenase complex contained cytochrome, probably a cytochrome b. The 19,000-dalton polypeptide is suggested to represent the apoprotein of this cytochrome. The 65,000-dalton and the 28,000-dalton polypeptides are thought to constitute succinic dehydrogenase and to correspond to the flavoprotein and the ironprotein, respectively, as described for succinic dehydrogenase isolated from beef heart mitochondria or Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophores. The results presented suggest that in B. subtilis succinic dehydrogenase is attached to a cytochrome b in the membrane via the 28,000-dalton (ironprotein) polypeptide.     

Electron-paramagnetic-resonance spectroscopy of Bacillus subtilis cytochrome b558 in Escherichia coli membranes and in succinate dehydrogenase complex from Bacillus subtilis membranes.

Cytochrome b558 of the Bacillus subtilis succinate dehydrogenase complex was studied by electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The cytochrome amplified in Escherichia coli membranes by expression of the cloned cytochrome gene and in the succinate dehydrogenase complex immunoprecipitated from solubilized B. subtilis membranes, respectively, is shown to be low spin with a highly anisotropic (gmax approximately equal to 3.5) EPR signal. The amino acid residues most likely forming fifth and sixth axial ligands to heme in cytochrome b558 are discussed on the basis of the EPR signal and the recently determined gene sequence (K. Magnusson, M. Philips, J.R. Guest, and L. Rutberg, J. Bacteriol. 166:1067-1071, 1986) and in comparison with other b-type cytochromes.     

Orientation of succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome b558 in the Bacillus subtilis cytoplasmic membrane.

The orientation of the three subunits of the membrane-bound succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)-cytochrome b558 complex in Bacillus subtilis was studied in protoplasts ("right side out") and isolated membranes (random orientation), using immunoadsorption and surface labeling with [35S]diazobenzenesulfonate. Anti-SDH antibodies were adsorbed by isolated membranes but not by protoplasts. The SDH Mr 65,000 flavoprotein subunit was labeled with [35S]diazobenzenesulfonate in isolated membranes but not in protoplasts. The flavoprotein subunit is thus located on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. The location of the SDH Mr 28,000 iron-protein subunit was not definitely established, but most probably the iron-protein subunit also is located on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Antibodies were not obtained to the hydrophobic cytochrome b558. The cytochrome was strongly labeled with [35S]diazobenzenesulfonate in protoplasts, and labeling was also obtained with isolated membranes. Cytochrome b558 is thus exposed on the outside of the membrane. In B. subtilis SDH binds specifically to cytochrome b558, which suggests that the cytochrome is exposed also on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. The results obtained suggest that the B. subtilis SDH is exclusively located on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane where it is bound to cytochrome b558, which spans the membrane.     

Two hemes in Bacillus subtilis succinate:menaquinone oxidoreductase (complex II).

Succinate:menaquinone-7 oxidoreductase (complex II) of the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis consists of equimolar amounts of three polypeptides; a 65-kDa FAD-containing polypeptide, a 28-kDa iron-sulfur cluster containing polypeptide, and a 23-kDa membrane-spanning cytochrome b558 polypeptide. The enzyme complex was overproduced 2-3-fold in membranes of B. subtilis cells containing the sdhCAB operon on a low copy number plasmid and was purified in the presence of detergent. The cytochrome b558 subunit alone was similarly overexpressed in a complex II deficient mutant and partially purified. Isolated complex II catalyzed the reduction of various quinones and also quinol oxidation. Both activities were efficiently albeit not completely blocked by 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide. Chemical analysis demonstrated two protoheme IX per complex II. One heme component was found to have an Em,7.4 of +65 mV and an EPR gmax signal at 3.68, to be fully reducible by succinate, and showed a symmetrical alpha-band absorption peak at 555 nm at 77 K. The other heme component was found to have an Em,7.4 of -95 mV and an EPR gmax signal at 3.42, was not reducible by succinate under steady-state conditions, and showed in the reduced state an apparent split alpha-band absorption peak with maxima at 553 and 558 nm at 77 K. Potentiometric titrations of partially purified cytochrome b558 subunit demonstrated that the isolated cytochrome b558 also contains two hemes. Some of the properties, i.e., the alpha-band light absorption peak at 77 K, the line shapes of the EPR gmax signals, and reactivity with carbon monoxide were observed to be different in B. subtilis cytochrome b558 isolated and in complex II. This suggests that the bound flavoprotein and iron-sulfur protein subunits protect or affect the heme environment in the assembled complex.     

Isolation of mitochondrial succinate: ubiquinone reductase, cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome c oxidase from Neurospora crassa using nonionic detergent.

The electron transfer complexes, succinate: ubiquinone reductase, ubiquinone: cytochrome c reductase, and cytochrome c: O2 oxidase were isolated from the mitochondrial membranes of Neurospora crassa by the following steps. Modification of the contents of the complexes in mitochondria by growing cells on chloramphenicol; solubilisation of the complexes by Triton X-100; affinity chromatography on immobilized cytochrome c and ion exchange and gel chromatography. Ubiquinone reductase was obtained in a monomeric form (Mr approximately 130 000) consisting of a flavin subunit (Mr 72 000) an iron-sulfur subunit (Mr 28 000) and a cytochrome b subunit (Mr probably 14 000). Cytochrome c reductase was obtained in a dimeric form (Mr approximately 550 000), the monomeric unit comprising the cytochromes b (Mr each 30 000), a cytochrome c1 (Mr 31 000), the iron-sulfur subunit (Mr 25 000), and six subunits without known prosthetic groups (Mr 9000, 11 000, 14 000, 45 000, 45 000, and 52 000). Cytochrome c oxidase was also isolated in a dimeric form (Mr approximately 320 000) comprising two copies each of seven subunits (Mr 9000, 12 000, 14 000, 18 000, 21 000, 29 000, and 40 000). The complexes were essentially free of phospholipid. Each bound one micelle of Triton X-100 (Mr approximately 90 000). After isolation, the bound Triton X-100 could be replaced by other nonionic detergents such as: alkylphenyl polyoxyethylene ethers, alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers and acyl polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters.     

Properties of bovine heart mitochondrial cytochrome b560

A large-scale preparation of the two-subunit protein complex (QPs) that converts succinate dehydrogenase into succinate-ubiquinone reductase from cytochrome b-c1 particles is achieved by a procedure involving Triton X-100 solubilization and calcium phosphate column chromatography at different pH values. The isolated two-subunit QPs contains 25 nmol of cytochrome b560/mg of protein and is able to reconstitute with soluble succinate dehydrogenase to form a TTFA-sensitive succinate-ubiquinone reductase. The maximum reconstitutive activity is 100 mumol of succinate oxidized per min per mg of QPs protein at 23 degrees C. Although cytochrome b560 in isolated QPs is not succinate reducible and its dithionite reduced form is reactive to carbon monoxide, cytochrome b560 is shown to be physically associated with succinate dehydrogenase by the following observations. The dithionite reduced form of cytochrome b560 in isolated QPs has a symmetrical alpha-absorption peak, which upon reconstitution with succinate dehydrogenase becomes slightly broadened and shows a shoulder at around 553 nm, identical to that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase. Upon addition of succinate dehydrogenase to QPs, about 50% of the reduced form of cytochrome b560 in the QPs becomes insensitive to carbon monoxide treatment. The redox potential of cytochrome b560 in QPs is -144 mV which is higher than that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase (-185 mV). Upon addition of succinate dehydrogenase, the redox potential of about 46% of the cytochrome b560 in QPs preparation becomes identical to that of cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase. Cytochrome b560 in the QPs preparation shows two epr signals, g = 3.07 and g = 2.92, whereas cytochrome b560 in succinate-ubiquinone reductase exhibits only one epr signal at g = 3.46. When QPs is reconstituted with succinate dehydrogenase to form succinate-ubiquinone reductase, the g = 3.46 epr signal reappears at the expense of the g = 3.07 signal. Based on epr measurement at liquid helium temperature, about 18% of the total cytochrome b in the isolated active succinate-cytochrome c reductase is cytochrome b560, indicating that cytochrome b560 is indeed a unique cytochrome b and not a denatured product of cytochrome b562 or b565.     

Cytochrome b556 complexes solubilized from Micrococcus lysodeikticus membranes by triton X-100]

The integral protein of cytochrome b556 after its solubilization with Triton X-100 from M. lysodeikticus membranes was studied. The cytochrome was found in complexes differing in charge and size during preparative gel electrophoresis and centrifugation in a sucrose concentration gradient. Cytochrome b556, being in complexes, retains its ability to be reduced by NADH dehydrogenase. The electron micrographs of the membranes after solubilization by Triton X-100 demonstrated the maintenance of the membrane structure. It is concluded that native protein complexes marked with cytochrome b556 are extracted from the membranes under their solubilization.     

Cytochromes b in submitochondrial particles from beef heart in the presence of redox succinate/fumarate buffer]

Aerobic red-ox titration of cytochromes b from submitochondrial particles (SMP) using red-ox succinate/fumarate couple revealed two components, one of them having E'0=80 mv; n=1 and alpha-band absorption maximum at 562 nm (b562); and the other-E'0=-25 mv; n=1 and the absorption maximum at 565 nm. Energisation of SMP, equilibrated with red-ox succinate/fumarate buffer, brought about a increase in absorption at the cytochromes b region (564-565 nm), which was reversed and prevented by an uncoupler. Energy-dependent reverse electrone transport from ascorbate+TMPD resulted in considerable higher reduction of cytochromes b with summary maximum at 563 nm with the same initial reduction level prior to energisation. The data obtained show that energy dependent reduction of cytochromes b of SMP poised with succinate/fumarate red-ox buffer is presumably to the effect of energisation on the red-ox state of cytochrome b566. It is suggested that the transmembrane electric potential difference, generated upon the energisation of the particles, should result in re-distribution of the semi-quinone Q anion (-Q-) across membrane, thus altering the equilibrium redox-state of respiratory carriers, interacting with redox-couples -Q/Q and QH2/-Q- in the mitochondrial membrane.     

Reactivity of the Bacillus subtilis succinate dehydrogenase complex with quinones.

The succinate dehydrogenase isolated from Bacillus subtilis was found to catalyze the oxidation of succinate with hydrophilic quinones. Either naphthoquinones or benzoquinones served as acceptors. The enzyme activity increased with the redox potential of the quinone. The highest turnover number was commensurate with that of the bacterial succinate respiration in vivo. The succinate dehydrogenase was similarly active in fumarate reduction with quinols. The highest activity was obtained with the most electronegative quinol. The fumarate reductase isolated from Wolinella succinogenes catalyzed succinate oxidation with quinones and fumarate reduction with the corresponding quinols at activities similar to those of the B. subtilis enzyme. Succinate oxidation by the lipophilic quinones, ubiquinone or vitamin K-1, was monitored as cytochrome c reduction using proteoliposomes containing succinate dehydrogenase together with the cytochrome bc1 complex. The activity with ubiquinone or vitamin K-1 was commensurate with the succinate respiratory activity of bacteria or of the bacterial membrane fraction. The results suggest that menaquinone is involved in the succinate respiration of B. subtilis, although its redox potential is unfavorable.     

Specific overproduction and purification of the cytochrome b558 component of the cytochrome d complex from Escherichia coli

In Escherichia coli strain GR84N[pNG10], the cloned gene for subunit I of the membrane-bound cytochrome d complex resulted in the overproduction of cytochrome b558 and facilitated purification of this cytochrome. Extracting membranes with 1% Triton X-100 followed by two chromatographic steps yielded a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels corresponding to subunit I (Mr 57 000). Purified cytochrome b558 was in its native state as determined by difference absorption spectroscopy and by potentiometric analysis. Both the membranes of strain GR84N[pNG10] and the purified subunit I lacked the other two spectroscopically defined cytochromes, b595 (previously "a1") and d, of the cytochrome d complex. Reconstitution of cytochrome b558 in phospholipid vesicles demonstrated that cytochrome b558 can be reduced by ubiquinol but that it does not reduce molecular oxygen. Heme extraction of cytochrome b558 yielded an extinction coefficient of 22 000 M-1 cm-1 for the wavelength pair of 560 and 580 nm in the reduced-minus-oxidized spectrum. The mutation on pNG10 that eliminates subunit II was mapped to a 250 base pair DNA fragment.     

Characterization of succinic dehydrogenase mutants of Bacillus subtilis by crossed immunoelectrophoresis.

Eleven succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) mutants in Bacillus subtilis were analyzed by crossed immunoelectrophoresis with antiserum prepared against wild-type B. subtilis cytoplasmic membrane. A precipitate which stained for SDH was found in Triton X-100-solubilized wild-type membranes and in membranes from two of the SDH mutants. The remaining nine mutants did not show an SDH-staining precipitate. The respective mutations in these nine mutants all map in one locus, citF (Ohné et al., J. Bacteriol. 115:738-745, 1973). An SDH-specific antiserum was prepared by immunizing rabbits with the SDH precipitate obtained in crossed immunoelectrophoresis with solubilized wild-type membrane. Using this antiserum, it was shown that all of the nine citF mutants lack an SDH-specific antigen in the membrane but five of the citF mutants have a soluble SDH-specific antigen. No major differences were found in sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gels of membrane proteins from wild-type B. subtilis and from SDH mutants. A model for the organization of SDH in B. subtilis is proposed.     

Removal of bound Triton X-100 from purified bovine heart cytochrome bc1

Cytochrome bc₁ isolated from Triton X-100-solubilized mitochondrial membranes contains up to 120 nmol of Triton X-100 bound per nanomole of the enzyme. Purified cytochrome bc₁ is fully active; however, protein-bound Triton X-100 significantly interferes with structural studies of the enzyme. Removal of Triton X-100 bound to bovine cytochrome bc₁ was accomplished by incubation with Bio-Beads SM-2 in the presence of sodium cholate. Sodium cholate is critical because it does not interfere with the adsorption of protein on the hydrophobic surface of the beads. The resulting Triton X-100-free cytochrome bc₁ retained nearly full activity, absorption spectra, subunit, and phospholipid composition.     

Solubilization, purification, and characterization of succinate dehydrogenase from membranes of Mycobacterium phlei.

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) was solubilized from membranes of Mycobacterium phlei by Triton X-100 with a recovery of about 90%. The solubilized SDH was purified about 90-fold by Sephacryl S-300, DEAE-cellulose, hydroxylapatite, and isoelectric focusing in the presence of Triton X-100 with a 20% recovery. SDH was homogeneous, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in nondenaturing gels containing Triton X-100. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the enzyme revealed two subunits with molecular weights of 62,000 and 26,000. SDH is a flavoprotein containing 1 mol of flavin adenine dinucleotide, 7 to 8 mol of nonheme iron, and 7 to 8 mol of acid-labile sulfide per mol of protein. Using phenazine methosulfate and 2,6-dichloroindophenol as electron acceptors, the enzyme had an apparent Km of 0.12 mM succinate. SDH exhibited a sigmoidal relationship of rate to succinate concentration, indicating cooperativity. The enzyme was competitively inhibited by fumarate with a Ki of 0.15 mM. In the absence of Triton X-100, the enzyme aggregated, retained 50% of the activity, and could be resolubilized with Triton X-100 with full restoration of activity. Cardiolipin had no effect on the enzyme activity in the absence of Triton X-100, but it stimulated the activity by about 30% in the presence of 0.1% Triton X-100 in the assay mixture. Menaquinone-9(2H), isolated from M. phlei, had no effect on the enzyme activity either in the presence or absence of Triton X-100.     

Membrane Asymmetry and Expression of Cell Surface Antigens of Micrococcus lysodeikticus Established by Crossed Immunoelectrophoresis

Crossed immunoelectrophoresis of Triton X-100-solubilized plasma membranes of Micrococcus lysodeikticus established the presence of 27 discrete antigens. Individual antigens were identified as membrane components possessing enzyme activity by zymogram staining procedures and by reactivity of certain antigens with a selection of four lectins in the crossed-immunoelectrophoresis (immunoaffinoelectrophoresis) system. Absorption experiments with intact, stable protoplasts and isolated membranes established the asymmetric nature of the M. lysodeikticus plasma membranes. Of the 14 antigens with determinants accessible solely on the cytoplasmic face of the membrane, four possessed individual dehydrogenase activities, and a fifth was identifiable as a component possessing adenosine triphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.3) activity. Evidence from absorption studies with isolated membranes suggested that antigens such as the adenosine triphosphatase complex were more readily accessible to reaction with antibodies than was succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.1), for example. Twelve antigens were located on the protoplast surface as determined by antibody absorption, and the succinylated lipomannan was identified as a major antigen. At least five other antigens possessed sugar residues that interacted with concanavalin A. With the antisera generated to isolated membranes, there was no evidence suggesting that any of these antigens was not detectable on either surface of the plasma membrane. From absorption experiments with washed, whole cells of M. lysodeikticus, it was concluded that the immunogens on the protoplast surface were also detectable on the surface of the intact cell. However, some of the components such as the succinylated lipomannan appeared to be exposed to a greater extent than others. The cytoplasmic fraction from M. lysodeikticus was used as an antigen source to generate antibodies, and 97 immunoprecipitates were resolvable by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. In the cytoplasm-anticytoplasm reference immunoelectrophoresis pattern of precipitates, three of the immunoprecipitates unique to the cytoplasmic fraction were identifiable by zymogram staining procedures as catalase (EC 1.11.1.6), isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.42), and polynucleotide phosphorylase (EC 2.3.7.8). The identification of membrane and cytoplasmic antigens (including the above-mentioned enzymes) provides a sensitive analytical system for monitoring cross-contamination and antigen distribution in cellular fractions.     

Application of phase partition method for the fractionation of hydrophobic membrane proteins]

Phase partition method in a two-phase polyethylene glycol-dextrane system has been applied to fractionation in Triton X-100 of hydrophobic membrane proteins from Micrococcus lysodeikticus. This method allowed to separate the cytochrome b556 from other cytochromes. Spectral and gel electrophoretic patterns of isolated cytochrome are given.     

Spectral and potentiometric analysis of cytochromes from Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis cytoplasmic membranes contain several cytochromes which are linked to the respiratory chain. At least six different cytochromes have been separated and identified by ammonium sulphate fractionation and ion-exchange chromatography. They include two terminal oxidases with CO-binding properties and cyanide sensitivity. One of these is an aa3-type cytochrome c oxidase which has characteristic absorption maxima in the reduced-oxidized difference spectrum at 601 nm in the alpha-band and at 443 nm in the Soret band regions. In the alpha-band two separate electron transitions with Em = +205 mV and Em = +335 mV can be discriminated by redox potentiometric titration. The other CO-binding cytochrome c oxidase contains two cytochrome b components with alpha-band maxima at 556 nm and 559 nm. Cytochrome b556 can be reduced by ascorbate and has an Em + +215 mV, whereas cytochrome b559 has an Em = +140 mV. Furthermore a complex consisting of a cytochrome b564 (Em = +140 mV) associated with a cytochrome c554 (Em = +250 mV) was found. This cytochrome c554, which can be reduced by ascorbate, appears to have an asymmetrical alpha-peak and stains for heme-catalyzed peroxidase activity on SDS-containing polyacrylamide gels. A protein with a molecular mass of about 30 kDa is responsible for this activity. A cytochrome b559 (Em = +65 mV) appears to be an essential part of succinate dehydrogenase. Finally a cytochrome c550 component with an apparent mid-point potential of Em = +195 mV has been detected.     

Isolation and characterization of hydrophobic proteins (H proteins) in the membrane fraction of Bacillus subtilis. Involvement in membrane biosynthesis and the formation of biochemically active membrane vesicles by combining H proteins with lipid.

Cytoplasmic membranes of Bacillus subtilis, grown in complex medium containing glucose, were fractionated into three membrane subfractions [light band (1.155 - 1.158 g/cm3); medium band (1.181 - 1.183 g/cm3); heavy band (1.21 - 1.25 g/cm3)] by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Among these subfractions, the light and medium bands consisted mainly of membranes but the heavy band consisted of an irregular arrangement or aggregate of small globular protein components of 5 - 8 nm in diameter. We named this H-protein. H-protein formed trilamellar unit membrane structure when combined with lipid. In pulse-labeling and pulse-chase experiments with radioactive leucine, it was found that H-protein consisted of the newest membrane protein synthesized in the cells and the label incorporated into H-protein was shifted into light and medium band of the membranes during the chase. Cytochromes were not found in H-protein. However, when H-protein was incubated with haem alpha and protohaem, these compounds were incorporated into the apoproteins of the cytochromes present in H-protein and form cytochromes a and b. Cytochromes were also formed in H-protein which were isolated from the cells grown in the presence of haemin (haemin-grown H protein). Succinate dehydrogenase activity was increased about 4-fold by combining H-protein or haemin-grown H protein with lipid. H-protein had no cytochrome oxidase activity; however, haemin-grown H protein was found to have some of the activity and this was increased about 4-fold by combining the protein with lipid. Haemin-grown H protein was also found to form succinate: cytochrome c oxidoreductase when combined with lipid and vitamin K2. On the other hand, succinate oxidase was required for the addition of lipid, vitamin K2 and cytochrome c. NADH oxidase was also found in haemin-grown H protein and was activated about 9-fold in constituted reaction systems. Vesicles formed by haemin-grown H protein and lipid, could accumulate alanine and proline by addition of NADH or reduced phenazine methosulfate. Alanine and proline was also accumulated into the vesicles when transport energy was supplied as a membrane potential introduced by K+-diffusion via valinomycin. These results would indicate that H-protein contains the apoprotein of cytochromes, and a carrier involved in the active transport of alanine and proline.     

Effect of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 on mitochondrial succinate-oxidizing enzymes

Specific activities of succinate:coenzyme Q reductase, ubiquinone:cytochrome c reductase, cytochrome oxidase, succinate:cytochrome c reductase, succinate oxidase, and ubiquinol oxidase have been measured in rat liver mitochondria in the presence of Triton X-100. The last three activities are much more sensitive to Triton X-100 than the first ones; the data suggest that the electron transport chain components cannot react with each other in the presence of the detergent. At least in the case of succinate:cytochrome c reductase, reconstitution of the detergent-treated membranes with externally added phospholipids reverses the inhibition produced by Triton X-100. These results support the idea that the respiratory chain components diffuse at random in the plane of the inner mitochondrial membrane; the main effect of the detergent would be to impair lateral diffusion by decreasing the area of lipid bilayer. When detergent-treated mitochondrial suspensions are centrifuged in order to separate the solubilized from the particulate material, only the first three enzyme activities mentioned above are found in the supernatants. After centrifugation, a latent ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidase activity becomes apparent, whereas the same centrifugation process produces inhibition of cytochrome c oxidase in the presence of certain Triton X-100 concentrations. These effects could be due either to a selective solubilization of regulatory or catalytic subunits or to a conformational change of the enzyme-detergent complex.     

Effect of the hydrophile-lipophile balance of non-ionic detergents (Triton X-series) on the solubilization of biological membranes and their integral b-type cytochromes.

The solubilization of four integral membrane proteins (i.e. cytochrome b-561 of the chromaffin granule membrane, cytochrome b5 of the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondrial b-type cytochrome(s) as well as cytochrome c oxidase) has been studied at 0 degrees C using the non-ionic detergents of the Triton X-series having the common hydrophobic 4(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenoxy (t-octyl-phenoxy) group and a variable average number (n) of polar ethylene oxide units added. Following a pre-extraction of peripheral membrane and matrix proteins with low and high salt concentration and a weak non-ionic detergent (Tween 20, average hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) = 16.7), the amount of heme proteins solubilized by subsequent Triton X-solutions was measured. With the detergents tested the degree of solubilization decreased in the sequence cytochrome b-561 greater than cytochrome b5 greater than mitochondrial cytochrome(s) b and parallelled the effect of the detergents on light scattering and the phospholipid to protein ratio of the three membranes. For all the b-cytochromes, the solubilizing power of the detergent increased with decreasing average length of the polar ethylene oxide chain and the hydrophile-lipophile balance as long as clouding did not occur (e.g. Triton X-114,n = 7.5 and HLB = 12.4). Thus, the greatest difference in the degree os solubilization of the three cytochromes was observed with Triton X-405 (n = 40 and HLB = 17.9). All the cytochromes were most efficiently solubilized (i.e. approx. 90%) by Triton X-100 (n = 9.5 and HLB = 13.5).